JMATS- GRMS Restructuring

[Shortie]

As many of you are aware JMATS (Joint Military Air Traffic Services) is heading our way. The date is currently set at 2013 but that is probably likely to change! As part of JMATS the plan is to restructure all GRMS and set up regional maintenance teams. Last year a trial between Cottesmore and Wittering GRMS was carried out for 3 months to asertain the feasibilty of combining the two sections. I have seen the official report and recommendations but I'm just after a little feedback from anyone who was on the shop floor during the trial on how you thought it went and how it affected you (morale etc) Also I'd like to throw the discussion open to ATC bods to see how you view the changes to your service. The next plan is to restructure and combine Kinloss and Lossiemouth GRMS for a period of 6 months, can't wait for that!!

Cheers.

 

[FOMz]

First I've heard of this. So does this mean we won't have a dedicated ground wireless section anymore? What happens when stuff breaks? do we have to wait and wait and wait and wait whilst someone drives from another unit?

 

[shettie]

a dedicated ground wireless section ?

'kinell Fomz - they weren't calling it wireless even when I joined up!!! Would it really make a difference - the kit these days is so reliable (comapared to the Cossor 787 or AR1!) The stations are so close together - Cott/Witt and Lossie/ISK that I'm surprised there isn't co-located ATCs with remote feeds for PAR. They could operate like the Clutch stations with one master control room!

 

[FOMz]

Yes it would make a difference..

24hr units need 24hr cover. The radar kit may be fairly reliable, but what if Watchman/MSSR or MASCOT dies a death....... you need guys fixing it quickly....not waiting for someone to drive over, or to be told - the guys are on another job at RAF XYZ, they'll be with you in a few hours.

 

[shettie]

Yes it would make a difference..

24hr units need 24hr cover. The radar kit may be fairly reliable, but what if Watchman/MSSR or MASCOT dies a death....... you need guys fixing it quickly....not waiting for someone to drive over, or to be told - the guys are on another job at RAF XYZ, they'll be with you in a few hours.

OK different scenario - one GRMS (or whatever they call them these days) with techs "deployed" to both sites - one set of management and admin at one station - and a workshop and engineers at both - that would solve your rapid responce issues?

 

[FOMz]

So how does paperwork get signed off then???????????

 

[Dilbert]

Maybe...

Maybe...

Maybe the OP could give a little bit more information.

Could it be that although combined, there may be 24hr personnel at each site (dependant on the requirement)?

Just a thought...

 

[shettie]

So how does paperwork get signed off then???????????

Unless anything has changed - there would be a supervisor on site - or a waiver (FFS - I was typing quick!! ) to allow self supervision for the engineering paperwork - if they need a job card raising - the GRMS control is only a phonecall away... Scheduled servicing paperwork would be raised as it always was - as per the servicing plan and distributed to site for the techs through the internal mail...

This isn't a new thing - late 90's T93 located at Driffield - main site at Staxton - 20 miles away - apart from the site being a bag of sh1te and the paperwork being lamentable - it worked like a dream - JafADs kept at arms length - perfect!

 

[rugby then work]

This is all still very much up in the air, as far as I know JMATS still has a way to go in the planning stages never mind implementation.

I thought that the plan was that JMATS would be contracted out with the intention of replacing all blue suits (bar a few harmony slots). Though that relies heavily on someone out there being able to take up a contract to supply these regional teams with enough trained manpower. The date for the JMATS Capability Project is 2014 and I believe it has a 5-7 year run in time, I presume that is to slowly replace Blue suits with Civvies.

As for where regional teams would be placed and what sort of cover would be available on individual units, that would have to be sorted with a Service Level Agreement, ATC would obviously have a big input in the drafting of such an agreement.

There is precedence for this within NATS, where certain parts of the job are regionalised, though a basic level of support (1st Line) is maintained on each airfield.

 

[NotAnIDOYet]

or a waifer to allow self supervision for the engineering paperwork -

What effing use would a wafer be? Or is that the considered opinion of our TG4 bretheren nowadays?

 

[shettie]

What effing use would a wafer be? Or is that the considered opinion of our TG4 bretheren nowadays?

I was TG3 - I can't quote the AP100b page and para!

 

[Mug?]

does it matter

does it matter

or a waifer to allow self supervision

wafer waifer are we talking thin mints here??

If you mean Waiver then change it before some spotty 11 gets on here and starts going on about how we can't spell.DT_Xtremez_30:

This will all be similar to exercises in the past and if we need cover it will cost which means you have to work without cover or it stays blue!

Seem to remember issues with civvie ground radio's in the past when someone wanted to take off out of hours.

 

[hugo_a_go_go]

It's a pain in the arse when one station is 24 hour and the other isn't DT_Xtremez_06:

 

[shettie]

It's a pain in the arse when one station is 24 hour and the other isn't DT_Xtremez_06:

Mornings, evenings, afternoons and nights - best shift going (if you don't want to know what day it is - or what the next meal might be! )

 

[ColwynC]

JMATS is scheduled to be a 22 year contract with a 3-7 year transition period. By the time transition is done it is likely that industry will install new equipment that can be monitored from anywhere; literally. Updates to software and configuration changes can also be applied, and it is now normal for the monitoring centre to know of a failure before the operator as the system will automatically reconfigure the VCCS or radio system so no loss of service is experienced... Reliability in new systems is now way up on anything we currently have, and fixing anything is a swap out with return to manufacturer for repair or throw away. Fixing stuff will generally fade away; further away that is.